Aussiedistiller, Home Distilling, Moonshine, Home Brew

can you tell by looking at a barrel What sort of oak it's made from ?
I've seen some full size barrels for sale on gumtree,
I'm thinking about getting one to save on cost of buying little packets from hbs .
But the seller isn't sure what oak they are .

Gumtree link

http://m.gumtree.com.au/wine-barrels/v?adId=323288307

Hi DeeJay,
most of the barrels i've seen have been stamped/ branded or have some sort of tag on them with the cooperage written on them.
some times this will tell you what type of oak it is...ie the region or if its written in french or English etc ;)
let me know how you get on coz i've just about used up all of my American oak flooring samples :text-lol:

Yeh I'll go check them out ,
I'll update here when I find out more info about them .

not a bad price

fair amount of work filling one of those :)

Yeh I don't think I could fill one up myself .
The seller researched them and now is saying that they
Are French oak .

from what i have found, American Oak barrels are pretty scarce around here,
i have resided to the fact that when i buy a barrel (or go halves with someone- hint hint Dee Jay;) )
it will probably be a french one. ( not a great difference really)

I'll keep having a hunt around for an American barrel they must be around .

Id be keen to go halves on one, I'll pm you when I find one :)

Cool ;)

http://www.rolloutthebarrel.com.au/

Sells American Oak offcuts pretty cheap. Give em an email and see if they'll post you some, i'm sure they will 8-)

Hey fellas,

theres an american oak barrel in the quokka for $190 in morley,
to much for me, if your keen i'll go halfs or thirds or what ever.

cheers

I got mine from a guy in Midland, American oak, cost me $50 as the lid was damaged and could not be used as a barrel, I did not care, I just wanted the Oak. :D :D :D

@ Gas on , Tell him he's dreaming ! Offer him 100 and I'll go halves

The "keg factory" in the barossa in SA sell all their barrells as american oak. I think a lot of the wineries out there use them, I bought two American Oak barrels (200L?) for $60 a pop, they had red wine in them for three years, not sure if anything before that, probably not tho.

I picked up a barrel today , it is French oak for $60 so I'm pretty happy .

DeeJae wrote:it is French oak

So your booze will be snooty and self indulgent rather than laud and garish :laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling:
Edit to add: We actually thought of using the below banner (notice the french connection)

:laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling:

Slightly off message but on topic/thread....
I've got a 25l American Oak barrell from the fab folk at Roll Out the Barrel, Clontarf. Its a beaut!

Anyway....question is... I am setting the contents up to be drunk straight from the tap (as it were) at around 43%ABV (I hope; almost there too :dance: ) but wonder what is an ideal temp for the contents in relation to letting it mature 'versus' tasting best on tap 'versus' not evaporate or some such thing???

As I live in the subtropics and summer approaches, I am particularly 'concerned' re upper temp thresholds (if they matter :? )

You need to watch the Jack Daniels show that was on the discovery channel a while back.
They store barrels in a wooden shed and the best are the ones right up the top near the roof, these get the extremes of temp both hot and cold.
They loose a little to evaporation, calling it "the angels share"
So, I could be wrong, I dont think hi temps will be a problem.

QLD.Andy wrote:They loose a little to evaporation, calling it "the angels share"
So, I could be wrong, I dont think hi temps will be a problem.

Ta Andy..I don't think the barrel will be anywheres hotter than 30C as a rule, probably less, but good to know.
BTW 'the Angels Share' is supposed to be approx 2% volume per annum. I accept that and am happy to contribute; unlike certain OS multinationals whom are trialling wrapping barrels in cling wrap etc. :shock:
Mate, if that's the case, good on 'em angels, I say, and surely something to look forward to in the future :laughing-rolling:
(...and apologies to those of any/all religious persuasions that may find the above offensive)

So would you lose 2% abv or 2% of total volume
leaving the product at the same abv ?